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The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is blasting the Board of Education over changes at the library at Daniel Hale Williams School, in the city's Bronzeville neighborhood. The school is located inside DuSable High School on the city's South Side and is slated to see reduced functionality. The librarian at the school was informed this week that her position was "closed."

"With the closure of the library on that campus, a resource that has been in continuous existence since the founding of this historic school, the mayor's hand-picked Board of Education has shut down the only functioning library staffed with a fully-certified librarian in a Bronzeville neighborhood high school," reads a release from CTU. "The Chicago Teachers Union is outraged by this action."

The union went on to note that there has been a purging of librarians at city schools in recent years, with predominantly African-American schools seeing the worst of it.

Rogers Park parents say they're worried about their children's safety now that the walk to their bus stop is longer after its relocation by the Chicago Public Schools district earlier this year.

Their original bus stop was located at Stephen F. Gale Elementary Community Academy, 1631 W. Jonquil Terrace. Students were reassigned this school year to a bus stop at Eugene Field Elementary School, 7019 N. Ashland Ave.

North Side parents who spoke out early Thursday morning outside Field Elementary claim the district reassigned them to the new bus stop without their input and has been unresponsive to their concerns raised after the relocation.

Pastors invoked the Battle of Jericho -with the Chicago Housing Authority as the wall keeping people out of their promised land - at an Interfaith Call to Action rally demanding preservation of public housing at Lathrop Homes last week.

"There's a barrier standing in the way of thousands of people who need a home," said Rev. Bruce Ray of Kimball Avenue Church. "There's a barrier standing in the way of new homes in a land of promise...It's the Chicago Housing Authority."

As fellow pastors held up a wall with the letters "CHA" on it, Ray added, "CHA might as well stand for 'Can't House Anyone.'"

Progress Illinois recaps Wednesday's Chicago City Council meeting, during which aldermen reaffirmed Chicago's status as a "sanctuary city" and approved new drone regulations and a Privatization Transparency and Accountability Ordinance.

Chicago Ald. George Cardenas (12th) spoke out Monday against the activation of a controversial speed camera in his ward.

The speed camera is located in the McKinley Park neighborhood at 3200 S. Archer Avenue, near the Mulberry Playlot Park at 3150 S. Robinson St.

On Monday, the photo enforcement device began issuing warnings to speeding drivers. After a 30-day warning period, tickets will be issued, and drivers caught going 11 miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit will face $100 fines.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and proponents of speed cameras say the devices, located near parks and schools, enhance children's safety. But opponents argue that speed cameras are less about safety and more about generating revenue for the city.

"There's no justification whatsoever for this camera being here except (for) ticketing people on their way home, or on their way to work or from work," Cardenas said at a morning press conference in front of the Archer Avenue speed camera near Paulina Street.

Progress Illinois rounds up the action at Wednesday's Chicago City Council meeting, during which aldermen approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel's 2016 budget — including a $588 million property tax hike — and zoning for the proposed Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.

One day before Wednesday's budget vote in the Chicago City Council, a Northwest Side community group released new research showing that Chicago renters could take a significant hit under Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed property tax increase.

Emanuel wants to increase property taxes by a record $588 million over four years to pay for police and fire pensions and school construction. Aldermen are scheduled to vote on the mayor's budget package, including the property tax increase, at Wednesday's council meeting.

A report released Tuesday by Communities United, formerly the Albany Park Neighborhood Council, examined the potential impact of the proposed property tax hike on renters in two-flat buildings across seven North Side neighborhoods.

The grassroots social justice group found that tenants in two-flats on Chicago's North and Northwest Sides could see their rent increase between $50 to $100 a month, or $600 to $1,200 a year, after the property tax increase is fully implemented.